Humanity struggles against the dangerous of natural phenomena that are caused by strong water streams or strong winds, protecting the lives and dwellings. For this purpose various means are used. One out of them is sleeves made on the basis of filled cylinders. These barriers separate one part of environment (water, air) from another, protecting from a strong wind or water streams.
The strong rains cause flooding of extensive territories and rivers and strong winds raise a water level in narrow gulfs or river mouths. Therefore the means for protection against a strong wind and flood water are necessary.
Many patents offer various designs of the barriers using cylinders, sleeves or oblong chambers filled with water or air and placed on a earth surface in the path of water stream (high water).
But the works, devoted to struggle against wind-induced incoming surge waves and subsequent flooding, it is much less. For wind-induced surge protection it is used the powerful gate-dams operating in Holland and England, projects in Venice and Russia, which are capable to separate area of high water from protected zone and which are closed only in the dangerous period and open for navigation in the rest time. Dear and complex constructions are used.
A number of the patents, devoted to the protection against the high flood water by means of the barriers comprising one, two or more tight tube-like sleeves (chambers, balloons, members) made from an flexible material (plastic, a composite, polymer), established and fixed on a ground surface on the path of a water stream is known. Thus try to reach mobility of barriers, simplicity to their installation and fixing.
Two classes of the protective flood barriers located on the ground and using two or more tube-like sleeves with impermeable envelops and filled by filler are known. Barriers of first class comprise one or more sleeves located in side-by-side, and Barriers of second class comprise two or more sleeves removed from each other, connected by a web, on which the pressing down ballast is placed.
Designs made on the basis of one sleeve demand an obligatory attachment to the ground by means of preliminary prepared fastenings on the ground surface. An example serves U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,946 (Reed C.) wherein the inflatable barrier made from air-inflatable bubbles is described. For keeping said bubbles in collapsible state it is intended a trough that is placed between the protected area and the flooding area and said trough sides which are all preferably surfaced with concrete. It is supposed, that is in advance known, as and where it is necessary to protect. However, this decision demands to create of the complex concreted trench that dearly and is not always real.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,957,928 Lofton M. B. offers more mobile and convenient design using augers for fastening to the ground and special rigid flanges for integration of these inflatable cylinders (tubular sleeves) by means of netting positioned over tubular sleeve that is anchored on opposite sides of tubular sleeve by said augers. However, the similar system is convenient only for small areas protection.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,392 Taylor G. L. offers a water inflatable structural module for constructing temporary dikes and related structures, comprising two identical elongated flattened cylinders which are sealed at opposite lateral ends to form a sealed, watertight chamber within a cylinder. The cylinders are joined by a flexible web. Several modules may be stacked in an interlocking structure of any desired height without the use of fastening elements. These blocks are the constructive “bricks” intended for forming a laterally interlocking structure and cannot form a continuous protective barrier.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,373 Jenkins J. T. describes a temporary flood control system comprising elongated flexible, inflatable, tubular member secured to each other and adapted to be disposed on the ground for anchoring a generally sheet like vertically extendable barrier wall or an inflatable tubular barrier sleeve disposed above and connected to the ballast members. These members are at least partly fillable with ballast, and may be inflated with pressurized air. Such barrier forms “an easy fence”, is not adapted for the subsequent strengthening and cannot protect against strong flooding.
In Pat. Appl. US 20030118407 Henning G. and Svend A. P. offer only a method of erecting a transportable dam comprising at least one inflatable flexible element and don't offer a design of a concrete barrier.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,362 (Carter T. L., et al) describes the dike consisting of two different tube-like sleeves that are fastened to each other. The author uses a skirt-cloth extending from the front side of the barrier abutting against the flood side substrate surface to prevent a water leakage under the dike. However, there is a danger that at dike installation it will be necessary to straighten said skirt that requires time.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,767 (Dooleafe, D, 1992) is one of first patents that offered various dams formed from comprises at least a pair of water filled elongate flexible chambers interlocked in side-by-side relationship and that may incorporate additional flexible water filled bad in the ends thereof as anchors. But density of water as an anchor or a ballast is insufficient for stability of a barrier. And the top arrangement of a water bag also does not promote it. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,481,928 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,783,300 Doolaege D. offers to use two flexible sleeves located close to each other. However, a similar barrier is intended for other purpose and requires the special means of fastening in the case of flood.
Doolaege D. offers to use a zipper only for fastening end faces of sleeves (U.S. Pat. No. 6,783,300).
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,641,329 (Clement G. M.) a liquid filled dam is described. The dam may be assembled as a packet of plurality tube-like elongate flexible sleeves connected by straps. This simple design demands manual labour at its installation for said plurality separate sleeves connection.
The first prior art is the Patent RU 2093638 (Feldman B. J., 1994, 1996) is shown in FIG. 1A-C. In this patent the flood protection dam comprises two elongate flexible sleeves made from the water-proof material. These sleeves are filled with water, ground, sand, or combinations thereof, interconnected by flexible web and located on the ground and located at the predetermined distance. The space between said sleeves is occupied by the ballast (concrete blocks, stones, ground, sand, metal structures, sandbags, water or any combination of aforesaid materials). Advantages of this decision: a) two sleeves, parallel to each other and removed from each other, allow to create the bounded capacity for loading a ballast, and b) the opportunity to use said ballast having any form and volume, including a free-flowing ballast and liquid. Said ballast carries out two functions: a) supports a front sleeve and b) presses a web to the ground, interfering with water infiltration. This patent solves one of the main problems: immediate loading after mounting said barrier on the ground and so that dam resistance grew as loading the space located between said sleeves.
The similar decision is offered in U.S. Pat. No. 6,726,405, Pat. CA 2416971 (Rorheim T. O. Norvay, PCT filling date 18 Jun. 1999, WO 2000/079062), where claims 1 and 2 repeat my above-mentioned patent RU 2093638. However, further the use of air as filler weakens a resistance of such dam and isn't perspective.
A number of patents that offer folding protective barriers is known. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,692,188, Walker; U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,373, Jenkins J. T.; Pat. Appl. US 2007116522, Boudreax H. K., et al; U.S. Pat. No. 6,450,733 Krill H-J, et al; Pat. Appl. US20060072969 Obermeyer H. K., et al). Last material (US 20060072969) comprises the description of water control gates and related inflatable actuators. The design is suitable for a water gate, but too complex for creation of barriers against flooding. Besides fastening of a filled bladder(s) and the organization of a joint of a front panel and a frame are too complex.
Walker A. G., et al (U.S. Pat. No. 6,692,188) offer a folding design, using a triangle barrier and an apron connected to said barrier by a pivot. Said barrier is formed by porous panels faced to flooding and a flexible panel. However, the arrangement of the apron interferes with use of the ballast increasing resistibility of a barrier. Pegs installation demands manual skills, and the sizes of said apron are those, that it is difficult to find such free strip in real conditions (approximately up to 20 meters).
Harry B. P. (Pat. Appl. US 20020110424) offers a primitive structure contained an elongated liquid-tight container filled with a liquid, comprising an eyelet coupled to said container and secured to the ground where said eyelet and a stake are corded. This invention cannot prevent a water leakage between said container and the ground.
Baruh B. G. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,164,870) offers an inflatable dike that is consists of several sections for protecting houses and roadways. Each of said sections has an upper cover and comprises handles for lifting this cover and inflatable lower bladder. That dike requires hand-help mounting and has deficient stability by increase of high water level.
Frame structures are described in different patents. Wiseman H., et al, (U.S. Pat. No. 6,676,333) offer to use a collapsible frame structure that is consisted of several beams and consider this structures as cofferdams that demand not only require to be capable of quick assembly and disassembly for ease in erection, but and transportation and storage. The choice of such structures was defined by that said artificial cofferdams demand high durability (The beams are preferably constructed of hollow cylindrical steel tubing with an outside diameter of about four inches, having a tensile strength of around 60,000 pounds). Such structures are convenient for assembly, but demand for this significant time and leave a problem of water filtration through a cofferdam sole.
The technology an RDFW (Rapid Deployment Flood Wall) is known. It uses a modular, collapsible plastic grid that serves as a direct replacement for sandbag walls. An RDFW wall is quickly expanded into place and then filled from the top with a loader, excavator, bottom-dump, or other piece of earthmoving equipment. However, this useful technology requires “dry object” and don't allow to use such machinery as dredgers.
The aforesaid barriers are intended for flood protection directly in residential areas, cities or vicinities. However, it is known, that the significant part of floods is caused by a wind creating on the sea or lakes a surge incoming wave. The wind raises the sea level near to coast, and flooding wave falls on coast. Especially the greater wave is formed along the rivers or gulfs. A collapsible rubber dam (U.S. Pat. No. 4,498,810 by Murametsu, et al) is intended for river damming, but cannot protect against this danger.
However, similar dams have not found application to protect against surge wave. In England and in Holland are constructed, in Italy and in China (U.S. Pat. No. 7,229,234 by Lim P T) are designed powerful and dear gate-dams, capable to separate area of high water from other zone, and these gates are closed only at the dangerous period and are opened in the rest of the time for navigation.
None of these above-mentioned barriers provides simplicity and speed of assembly, fast installation at occurrence of danger, the minimal laboriousness and to resistance of a real water flow, and also protection against flooding various objects. Nobody considers designs that are allow protecting different objects on the base of united technology. The analysis of thousand illustrations that are made at the time of last flood in Yahoo gallery confirms this conclusion and shows that. Everyone practically uses only sandbags.
The present invention is based of above-mentioned patent RU 2093638. It allows raising stability of barriers, as much as possible to mechanize process of their installation and to expand an application field the offered barriers to struggle against flooding, in particular for weakening wind-induced incoming surge waves and creation of cheap water basins-traps.
The present invention allow to create a flood protective system that is able to protect different objects located on the protected area. The offered system can be cheap enough, can be quickly established and put into operation, capable to protect effectively said objects, using group of the barriers considering properties of protected objects and executed on the basis of united technology.